Story Highlights

BEVERLY HILLS — Singer Kelly Rowland knows from experience the perils of not backing up her digital data. The artist — a founding member of Destiny's Child and a judge on Fox's The X Factor — lost everything on her iPhone earlier this year when she dropped it and it died, including behind-the-scenes shots of her reunion with Destiny's Beyonce and Michelle Williams at the Super Bowl.

We met Rowland at her record company's office here and chatted about backup, the new X-Factor app and how she starts each day with the Bible — on her iPhone.

BACKUP

"My whole life is in there. My other phone had so much information, so many pictures, and I didn't back anything up so I encourage people — back up. I lost so many things that really broke my heart. I was sick for at least a month." After the loss, she started using Apple's iCloud service, and she bought extra hard drives as well.

"You don't realize how much stuff you accumulate. Everything starts to add up and, by the time you look up, your computer's like 'nothing else can fit into your hard drive' so you have to buy another one."

Singer Kelly Rowland discusses the X-Factor App and other apps she loves on Talking Your Tech

X-FACTOR APP

The hit Fox talent show just unleashed a new app for Apple and Android that lets fans see behind-the-scenes footage, along with specific performances.

Backstage "can be a lot of chaos. Everyone is trying to get themselves together mentally, and physically — 'what does my hair look like?' — and just getting ready to perform. I just think that's always really interesting to see. ... It's a great component to have for the show."

About the "second-screen" experience — phone in one hand and eyes on the TV — she says it's "crazy that we live in a day and age where you're watching TV and have a phone in your hand, but it's happening, and I'm happy we're able to capture that."

FAVORITE APPS

She also likes:

— Holy Bible (free, Apple). "Each day I wake up and just kind of scan my finger over each one to see which passage I fall on."

— Fancy (free; Apple, Android, Windows). The shopping app is a personal favorite. "I love it. I find myself buying a lot of things ... so that app gets me in good trouble."

— SoundCloud (free; Apple, Android). The audio site is where she shared songs from her recent album, Talk a Good Game, before it was released earlier this year.

"I think it's another cool way to share music with your fans. You get a chance to share some of your favorite sounds or songs at the time," and get feedback before release.

Don't even think of texting at the dinner table with singer Kelly Rowland. She won't hear of it. Talking Your Tech

NO TEXTING WHEN DINING

"I don't have that at my table. Everyone puts their phones down, because the reason we are out is to eat together. You don't go to dinner to look at a phone. It's just not personal. It's not intimate with people you care about and love."

GOING UNPLUGGED

"The other day both of my phones died, the iPhone and the BlackBerry. It was so nice because it ... gave me time to clear my mind." If tech addiction is this bad in 2013, what's it going to be like in 2015? "That's scary. ... We have to make rules for ourselves now just so we don't go too crazy."